Safety crutch



Oct. 26, 1965 R. J. FRANK 3, 9

SAFETY CRUTGH Filed Feb. 2'7, 1964 Fig. 2

INVENTOR RICHARD J. FRANK WWI 9W ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,213,869 SAFETY CRUTCH Richard J. Frank, 1372 39th Ave. NE., St. Petersburg, Fla. Filed Feb. 27, 1964, Ser. No. 347,922 1 Claim. (Cl. 135-47.5)

This invention relates to crutches and more particularly to crutches of the arm embracing cane type.

It is a prime purpose of this invention to provide a cane type crutch which will provide both safety and comfort for its user and which will overcome difficulties long experienced with former crutches; difficulties which former inventors have offered many solutions for, but which still remain ever present for the cane-crutch user, particularly for those who using such crutches are often subject to bodily weaknesses apart from the limb which the crutch is used to support and thus are liable to fall, due to vertigo engendered by other cases.

It is also a purpose of this invention to provide a canecrutch of such mechanical construction that structural failure will be very unlikely and in which all of the parts are so related and secured that regardless of the weight of the patient or how the cane parts are used, such structural failure will be most improbable, and for practical purposes, impossible.

It is a further purpose of this invention to provide an arm holding cuff for such cane-crutches which will securely and rigidly embrace the users forearm, but which will have a part of such embracement subject to instant release while capable of permanently adjusted clasping functions, impossible where the whole cuff is of spring material and refuses to stay in proper adjustment as it is used. It is extremely necessary to the users of such crutches that the cructh be instantly available if their equilibrium is upset and for such purpose it is necessary that the crutch cuff cling to the users arm if he raises it. The spring cuffs formerly used, wherein the entire cuff forms the spring, failed to provide a rigidity of support in walking and at the same time safely be made stiff enough to retain a positive grasp on the users forearm when he releases his grip upon the hand piece. Thus such one-piece cuffs are constantly being bent and rebent in attempts to find a satisfactory adjustment and resulting in the complete failure of the cuffs, both as a support and as an arm clutch for holding the crutch in suspension. It is a prime purpose of this invention to overcome this difficulty, while providing arm encirclement.

It is a further purpose of this invention to provide a structure which will be reinforced, rather than weakened, by the attachment of the hand grip and which will provide such hand grip with a strengthening of the crutch structure rather than the reverse, while at the same time in no way lessening proper positioning of the hand grip, nor its function.

The main purpose of this invention may be set forth in two words, comfort and safety and these functions are, of course, the essential functions of such crutches in supporting those who have physical weaknesses; thus the essential purpose of this invention is to provide a safe, comfortable structure overcoming points of weakness and discomfort in devices of the prior art and in which structural failure will be substantially impossible, with places of insecurity and discomfort unavoidable in former devices eliminated.

Certain other improvements and advantages will appear as the appended description develops with reference to the attached drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of a complete cane crutch of the type which will be referred to.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the upper end of the 3,213,869 Patented Oct. 26, 1965 crutch shown in FIG. 1 and of the arm cuff portion thereof.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the cuff shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and shows in parts thereof in closed position.

FIG. 4 is also a top view of the cuff referred to as shown in the former figures, but with certain parts thereof in open position.

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 1 in a plane parallel to that of the crutch shaft.

Referring to FIG. 1 the crutch is provided with a shaft portion 10 having and adjustable extension 11 commonly provided with a foot pad 12 and adjustable as to its extension from main shaft body 10 by such means as the adjustment pins 13. The shaft 10 is offset at 14 provided with a secondary adjustment means 15 and with a top extension piece 16 wherein pivots a pin 17 to aflix a cuff portion which I have generally designated as 40.

Shaft 10 is provided with a hand grip which I have generally designated by the numeral 20 and the details of which will be further described since this forms a most important load bearing part .of the crutch structure and is vitally important to the safety of the crutch user.

The cufi 40 may be said to have two main functions, its first being a secure grip for the forearm of the invalid who must rely upon it; the second being to releasably attach the crutch to the users forearm so that if grip 20 is released the crutch will not fall away nor be lost to direct contact when the crutch is raised either in locomotion or when the supported person raises his arm to adjust his neckwear or otherwise releases the downward pressure on the crutch. This cuff holding function is most essential since if the crutch falls to the floor many crutch users will be unable to recover it and any tendency on the part of the individual to fall is much emphasizedby any feeling that the cuff may lose its hold on his arm. This has led to constant bending andrebending of the spring metal cuffs heretofore supplied and resulted in a cuff which neither felt nor was secure, and this inventor provides such security by a substantially rigid portion 42 which is preferably made in one piece with the ears 43 to which the pin 17 attaches the cuff to the upper crutch shaft portion 16. I prefer to make this portion of the cuff by metal extrusion of aluminum so that it will be at once strong and without joints which may fail. The outer ends of the portions 42 are also extruded to form channels 44 for the hinge pins 51 which are in turn extruded with and form a unitary part of outer cuff portions 50. Cuff portions 50 are preferably offset, as at 53 to hinge over extensions 46 of the portion 42. Portions 50 are also preferably bent, as at 55 to form easy access and release points for the users arm.

Since the parts of my safety cuff are purposely made to have little flexibility and to provide a secure hold for the users arm, I prefer to provide leaf springs 60 secured to the inner portion 42 of the cuff 40, as at 62. The outer portion of spring 60 bears upon the outer members 50 of the cuff which hinge upon the pin 51, as has been described. This arrangement of the springs may also be seen in FIG. 2 wherein a flexible plastic cover 70 is also indicated as well as the position of the cuff when the crutch is being used for walking. The position of the cuff, when supporting the crutch, may be seen at 40a in FIG. 1.

Inspection of FIGS. 3 and 4 will show that whether cuff portions 50 are closed, as in FIGJ3, or open as in FIG. 4, the users arm has a solid support extending to the ends of portion 42, indicated at 46; thus the security and safety of the invalids support is always assured. If, however, the invalid wishes to release his arm, portions 50 yield against the pressure of springs 60 and the arm comes free of the cuff, this a most important function since in the event of accidental upset, the patent must be able to get his forearm out of the cuff to avoid break.- ing his arm, and of course, he must also remove his arm from the crutch when he does not require support. Users of such crutches will know how great a factor a safe, comfortable arm cuff is and how essential to their mental and physical equilibrium at cuff which is secure and which feels secure must always be.

Further reference to FIG. 2 will show that channels 44 and their enclosed hinge pins 51 extend substantially the full width of the cuff and hence assure against twisting of the hinged portions 50, further adding to the security of the whole over the liinber spring cuffs which had previously to be used for the purposes described.

Necessary as the cuff is to the functioning of the cane crutch, the main Weight of the invalid must always be borne by the hand hold 20 projecting from the shaft 10 and the attachment of such hand holds has always been a weak point in can crutch construction, since if an outside encirclement of the crutch shaft were employed, there will always be a tendency to bend or shear the shaft tubing at the edge of such encirclement, and if a simple bolt through the shaft were used, the shaft and the attachment were both weakened. Use of a casting for such attachment has also proven unsafe since castings are poorly suited to shock loads of the type encountered here. The present applicant provides an interior reinforcing plug 22 which is forced into shaft 10 and into which threads stud 24 having a socket head 25. The hand hold body 25 is preferably made out of solid stock milled at 26 to fit the exterior of shaft 10 and bored, as at 27, to permit the insertion of a torsion wrench to engage stud head 25 and compress the whole structure together under several thousand pounds pressure, so that both shaft 10 and the hand hold form a reinforced, unitary structure having a factor of safety of well over 10, so that the patient is always secure in his reliance upon his trusted third leg.

The applicant submits that the art and use of crutches to support the infirm is to the person dependent upon them one of the most important of those pertaining to living, that the can crutch in itself provided a great improvement in facility of movement for those requiring such devices and that additions to the safety and comfort of such cane crutches are to him essential. Manifestly, the disclosed improvements of this application are thus subject to the broadest interpretation within the scope of the appended claim and the spirit thereof.

What I claim is:

In safety crutch having a hand hold and an arm cuff to encircle the forearm of the crutch user,

(a) a rear cuff portion of rigid metal formed to partially encircle the crutch users arm and having means to provide attachment to the crutch shaft, said rear cuff portion hingedly mounted for rotation on an axis perpendicular to the axis of said shaft,

(b) cuff extension sections hinged to the said rear cuff section to project'therebeyond and flexibly and releasably further encircle the arm, esconced in the aforesaid rear section,

(c) spring members mounted on said rear cuff section and bearing upon said extension sections to releasably press the said extensions into arm encirclement position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 7/50 Australia. 168,272 5/51 Austria. 123,814 9/ 18 Great Britain.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. 

